Legacy
by Kaise
Summary: When someone dies; they leave behind all their hopes for the future, everything they held precious in the present, and all the memories of their past. If they were truly special, they would leave behind a belief that could inspire an entire generation to press forward, a legacy. For one boy, his challenge was defending the legacy of a hero he looked up to and of one he never met.
1. Prologue: Remnant

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; all credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto for creating this series_

 **Prologue: Remnant**

* * *

Konohagakure, more commonly referred to as the Village Hidden in the Leaves or Hidden Leaf Village, was incredibly active on this particular day. Today, the Ninja Academy was holding their graduation day celebration for all the students that had successfully passed the test and were deemed worthy of being called Genin, junior ninja. In total, thirty aspiring youths were celebrating the fact that the next day they would be part of a platoon and begin their training under their assigned Jonin, elite ninja, instructor. However, none of them would realize how far they would have to go to prove that they were shinobi worthy of praise and none of the Jonin wanted to tell them how difficult their road would be from here on. All they desired was that the young children enjoyed themselves while they could.

The streets were illuminated by the colorful lanterns hanging on brown poles that were now spread throughout the business district and residential areas of the village. In addition, many of the buildings were adorned with streamers in order to make the store or house alive and full of activity. The few residents that knew how to play instruments such as the flute were spread throughout the entire area in order to spread the wonders of music to all that gave them a listen. There was suppose to even be a puppet show from the two or three Konoha ninja that knew the secret arts of the mechanical doll turned weapons. They went all out for this new tradition they plan to establish from this year forward, wanting it to advance even further as the next generation evolves the technology involved.

"Choji, don't overdo it with the food, alright? You don't want to end up in the hospital."

"Don't worry about it, Shikamaru, I'll be fine."

Two young boys entered a dango shop as two girls that looked to be the same age left the facility. One of them, the girl with yellow hair tied in a long ponytail with a bang hanging over the right side of her face, had a smug look on her face as he moved her hands to behind her head. The second female had long pink hair was glaring daggers at her while trying her best to restrain from punching the blond one. Normal people would be scared that they were about to get into an all out brawl, but everyone in the Hidden Leaf knew about these two by now and that this was quite the normal altercation between the two.

"Take that, Sakura! Sasuke gave me a glance when he passed us while he was leaving the restaurant! He most have noticed that I'm a way more fitting girl for him!" the first girl remarked as the smug look on her face grew.

Sakura quickly got into the first girl's face and placed her fist a few centimeters away from her chin. "Shut it, Ino you pig! It was clearly because you kept shouting his name and put such unnecessary attention on Sasuke! He was giving you a death stare!"

Ino stuck her tongue out before staring at the other girl again. "Jealous are we? You're making up fantasies just so you could still cling on to hope that Sasuke would fall for someone like you."

"Oh yeah? We'll see which one ends up imagining fantasies tomorrow when we get our teams. True love will conquer all and put me with my dear Sasuke!"

As the two girls continued to glare each other, reaching a point where their foreheads were touching, a male around their age stood in the shadows of a nearby building. It was hard to take notice of the brown haired one wearing black shades and a light blue shirt with a collar that covered half of his face. A beetle landed on the bridge of his nose with no sudden reaction from the child. It was pretty clear that he didn't talk much. _"…Noisy."_

* * *

"Come on, Sasuke, there's no way you'll beat me! Isn't that right, Akamaru?!" a boy wearing a grey hoodie with brown fur coming out of it shouted to a small white dog in excitement. A yelp came out of the canine's mouth as it jumped from the top of the boy's head. The jacket wasn't the only thing that made him seem feral. His brown hair looked untamed while his eyes looked like they belonged to a lone wolf. Continuing with the dog theme, fangs stuck out of his mouth and his fingernails were long enough to resemble claws. The human and animal let out a roar in unison to their opponent in the sparring match in order to make him cower in fear, but there was no intimidating the youngster that stood across from him.

"Kiba, I only agreed to this match because you were beginning to annoy me as much as Naruto," a kid with raven black hair retorted as he ran his hand threw his bangs. "Someone like you couldn't even leave a mark on my forehead."

"Is that what you think? When then…let's get this started!" With that, the two jumped into the air and began clashing knuckles. The music playing in the corner was drowned by the sounds of Kiba's growls and Sasuke's grunts. A crowd was beginning to form around the two, getting attention to the shop they were fighting in front of in the process. The two ignored the thanks of the store owner for the customers as they continued to clash fists, the boy with black hair having a slight advantage over his opponent.

Unbeknownst to them, a girl with dark blue hair observed their fight from a distance with her pure white eyes. She was worried for both of them despite the fact it was just a friendly spar.

* * *

Among the kids celebrating was a boy with spiky yellow hair. His orange tracksuit made him easily distinguishable in the large crowd, as well as his green goggles that he wore around his forehead. More importantly, his facial expressions made him looker similar to a certain hero of the village that many in the village were inspired by. The name of this child was Naruto Uzumaki, a kid that lost his parents to a great beast commonly known as the Nine Tailed Fox. Despite coming from a line that should have netted him sympathy, he was often looked down by everyone because of the fact that the same demon was sealed inside of him in order to protect them. Many of the adults couldn't separate the child from the fox, and refused to acknowledge his few notable achievements as a result.

Naruto continued fighting for his dream even if only a handful people encouraged him to keep moving forward. He believed with all his heart that by becoming Hokage, everyone would be able to look past the beast inside of him and he would finally be seen as a ninja worthy of respect. Becoming a Genin was the first step in completing his dream, but he knew that the road ahead was still a very long one. For now though, he was willing to take a break on his journey and relax. He should be able to just enjoy this festival set up for him and his former classmates.

"Hey, Naruto! Come over here for a second!" a voice yelled loud enough to get Naruto's intention. A smile grew on the boy's face as he ran closer to the source of the sound. The last time he heard this voice was in a forest clearing, telling him that he graduated and became an official shinobi. His smile turned into a grin when he met up with the owner of the voice.

"Iruka-sensei! Came to see the future Hokage on the most important day of his life, huh?" the boy asked in an excited tone.

The man talking to Naruto was Iruka Umino, the main instructor at the Ninja Academy. A smile was plastered on his face as he scratched the bridge of his nose. His head was decorated with white bandages, but that didn't stop him showing up to the festival for his former students. The brunette was wearing a green flak jacket with a red spiral on the back and blue pants in addition to a blue cloth tied around his forehead with a metal plate with a leaf shaped object attached to it. He was wearing the standard attire for ninja that had attained the rank of Chunin or higher.

Iruka was one of the few people that saw Naruto as something other than a failure or the Nine Tailed Fox. While he originally thought the same way about the boy as his peers, the man was eventually able to bond with him after realizing that he also had a hard time growing up with no parents. The two began seeing each other as brothers, despite the fact Iruka yelled at his student a lot during his time at the Academy. The only reason he was so harsh was because he truthfully wanted the child to accomplish everything he wanted to in life no matter what. Naruto realized this too, which was why he didn't hate Iruka like most of the other adults that treated him with blatant disrespect and instead respected him greatly. His admiration for his teacher even led him to use a forbidden jutsu that he originally learned to impress him in order to protect his life after Iruka defended his honor from a piece of scum.

"I just can't want to see all my students on their big day? Besides, I was just heading over to Ichiraku…"

The boy quickly jumped in place before the grin on his face grew even bigger. "Sensei! Treat me to some ramen! You promised me you would after you gave me your headband!"

"Really, Naruto? You're not a kid anymore. Are you sure you don't want to eat anything else instead?"

"No way! The Fourth Hokage had ramen almost every day when he was just starting out and look what happened to him. Besides, ramen is even better when someone else treats you!" the blonde one responded with an excited tone.

 _"Oh, Naruto, you haven't changed much since becoming a Genin after all,"_ the man thought while chuckling. He was really glad that the blondie reached a monumental moment in his life. He was proud of him as both his teacher and as his friend. He let out a small cough before giving his answer. "Alright, if you really want to I guess I can treat you, even though rookie ninja like you should be paying for your own meals now."

"You're the best, Iruka-sensei!" the boy ran off in excitement towards the ramen shop as his former teacher continued looking at him in admiration.

 _"I wonder how the Fourth would feel about Naruto. Would he be honored that someone was really inspired by his actions to the point he was being imitated? Or would he tell Naruto to follow his own path? Well, it's not like he's copying the Fourth in every way. He's already well on his own path to becoming a Hokage. I wouldn't even be surprised if he did end up surpassing you."_

While he was trapped in his own thoughts, Iruka's glance switched to a large mountain that could be seen from almost anywhere in the entire village. Resting on the brown rock were four giant chiseled pieces that were shaped to look like heads. This monument was very important to everyone that called this place home as they all represented someone that every citizen could call a hero. They were the greatest shinobi to ever be part of the Hidden Leaf Village, the faces to the four previous Hokage, the leaders of Konohagakure that established the stability that everyone was able to enjoy.

"Iruka-sensei! What's keeping you?! Come on and hurry up already!"

The man turned his head from the distance and started walking towards the voice that called him. The future was still far ahead. There wasn't any need to worry about if Naruto would end up surpassing the previous Hokage yet. Instead, he should focus on the present and be there for the young boy since there were only a few other people he could talk to about anything.

* * *

"Well, Obito, we're going to see if this batch can pass this time. Must be infuriating to see people not feeling the same way you did, huh?"

While most of the village was loud and decorated to show the festive mood of the youth, some areas were kept intact to allow those that didn't want to party a place of silence. Among these locations was a green field known as the Third Training Ground. A grey stone with countless amounts of names carved into it was at the center and served as a memorial for all the ninja that gave their lives to protect peace during any of the Great Shinobi Wars. Many friends and family would gather around said stone and pay their respects to their fallen precious one, expressing how much they missed them and how they've benefited in life because of said sacrifice.

Among those that visited this essential gravestone was Kakashi Hatake, a shinobi that was feared as the Copy Ninja because of a jutsu that he inherited from a friend that died to save him and another. Many commented on the fact that he didn't change much in over ten years. He still had his signature white spiky hair, wore a black face mask, and his black eyes still looked the same as when they did when he was twelve. However, he now wore the normal attire for Jonin ninja: a blue tracksuit with matching blue sandals, a green flak jacket with a red spiral on the back over his tracksuit, and a blue cloth with a metal forehead protector attached to it over his left eye. The look on his eyes showed that he had a lot on his mind at the moment.

It was because he was trapped in his train of thought that he failed to notice a young woman around the same age as him walking next to him. While she also wore the flak jacket, she instead elected to wear a sleeveless black shirt and black pants. Her arms, wrapped in light purple sleeves with shuriken plastered over it rested behind her back as her brown eyes looked at the man staring at the memorial. It seemed like she too had wanted to talk to someone whose name rested there, but she now wanted to say something to the other visitor instead.

"Kakashi, how long are you going to just stand there?" the woman asked, stepping up next to the man as she placed her left hand over the gravestone.

He shifted his head slightly to the right to notice the newcomer before turning his attention back to the original structure. "I had to tell Obito about the new Genin."

"You do this every year, and you always end up missing a lot. It shouldn't take over five hours to tell someone that, even if it is him." The woman kept her hand in that position, a look of thought now on her face as well.

"I know, Rin, but I just can't help it. Whenever I come here, I end up thinking about just how big of a selfish idiot I was back then," Kakashi replied. He let out a sigh before removing his hand from the stone.

Rin removed her hand the same moment Kakashi did and decided to sit down on the stone pathway encircling the moment. "You've grown a lot since then. All we can do now is keep his legacy alive by passing on his ninja way."

The man looked up to the sky and noticed that the sun was no longer in the sky, replaced by the moon and millions of stars decorating the dark sky. On a similar night to this years ago, he stood at in this same location with Rin and a teenage boy with spiky black hair and tacky looking orange goggles. The three looked at all the names inscribed into it and desired to be as great as these heroes, but without having to join them wherever they were now. Back then, they really were naive children that hadn't seen battle yet. The male with spiky black hair wasn't with them anymore, but he passed down a belief that would impact all those that heard about it. He had become what those three dreamed of at a hefty cost.

Kakashi let out a small laugh before sitting next to the woman. "You know, sometimes I wonder what I do that makes you still want to be my friend."

"Don't be silly, of course I'd be. Besides, someone's got to make sure you don't get into too much trouble since Obito and sensei are both gone."

This caused another chuckle to come out of his mouth.

"That reminds me. You're done with the Academy after tomorrow right? You aren't a teacher anymore, but now an instructor for a team of three Genin," the man remarked.

Rin pushed her hand through her brown hair before letting out a smile. "Yeah, and I still can't believe it. I didn't think that I would actually become a Jonin like you someday."

"If Guy could be one, anyone could," the white head joked, getting a chuckle out of both of them after they were reminded of the former failure ninja that ended up becoming an amazing taijutsu master that was now the leader of a three Genin squad that graduated last year.

The silver head had heard stories about Guy's team, a kunoichi that was an expert when it came to weapons, a genius from the famous Hyuga Clan, and a boy that knew neither ninjutsu or genjutsu but still stood tall during missions. Those three were all really exceptional shinobi, bred to be masters of close range by their dynamic teacher. What he heard about them convinced him that the buffoon that called himself Kakashi's rival was actually a really capable instructor and that being out there didn't limit someone's abilities to be good at him. Even if they were extremely nervous like Rin seemed to be.

"Say, Kakashi…" Rin began, taking a deep breath before looking at his face again. "Do you think it would be alright if I do the same test you and sensei did to see how well my students understand things?"

"Oh, that one? It shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure he would be happy to know that a simple test like that left such an impact on us."

Rin let out a small smile after hearing, like she heard the one answer that was willing to accept and was really happy about it. _"So is that what you think now, Kakashi? I'm happy to know that the test you used to despise so much has become an important part of you now."_

The silver haired ninja looked up to the sky and started reminiscing about an event that happened long ago. It occurred during a time that he was blinded by the Shinobi Laws and following rules with an iron fist, a period where he didn't consider teamwork to be one of the most important aspects of being a shinobi. He could now say that he was an idiot back then, but at that time he was an arrogant kid that didn't know how to admit he was wrong or refused to look outside of the norm in order to find the solution.

* * *

 _"The reason that all three of you are here," an adult with spiky blond hair began with a tone of disappointment, "is because none of you could recognize the one factor that was most important to the success of the mission."_

 _With arms crossed in front of his chest, the man wearing the standard flak jacket of Konoha stared at the subjects of his lecture. The three that were gathered around two tree stumps all had varying reactions because of this failure, thinking it signaled the end of their quest to become ninja. The saddest of the trio, a girl with brown hair with purple marks on her cheeks, was looking down at the ground and hugging her knees while staring down at the dirt out of depression. The only thing she ended up doing during the entire exercise was hide because of the fear that she would kill everyone by accidentally hitting them with a kunai or shuriken that went to far to the left or right. She considered both of the boys to her left close friends, and didn't want to be the one that caused them to fail but had a bad feeling that she was the biggest contributor to this situation._

 _The boy to her far left was the one that appeared to keep his composure despite looking the face of adversity straight in the eye. The silver head was also staring at the dirt, but it was not because of the fact that he did nothing to even attempt to pass. On the contrary, he was the closest to actually passing the objective that they were given at the start of the day. The look in his eyes was of disappointment, but this look was caused by the idea that he just wasn't good enough to actually finish the mission, and it was eating him alive. If it weren't for his almost brainwashed admiration for law and respect, he would have charged this very instant at the adult and attempt to complete his goal once again. Despite this though, there was one that was even more enraged than him and the girl was very sad, both things that a ninja should never show on the battlefield. It was for that reason he was so confident that he wasn't the reason that they were being lectured at currently._

 _The third member of this trio of failure was definitely the most emotional of the three, yelling curses and swears at the adult without a care in the world. He was currently tied to a tree stump and was flailing around in hopes of breaking free from this demeaning showing. His distinguishable piece of attire were a pair of orange goggles currently over his eyes that refused to fall down his face despite all of his erratic movements. It was quite clear that he wasn't blaming himself for the situation he was currently in but rather the fact that the man used some tricks in order to outsmart him constantly. Unlike the other two, he didn't care who the target of his disappointment was, all he cared about was proving himself against him._

 _"Can any of you fathom what that factor is? It's really not that hard to guess what it is." The adult's blue eyes were staring right at the three. If looks could kill, they'd all be dead at that moment._

 _The three looked at each other for a brief moment before returning their attention to the man._

 _"Will Power?"_

 _"Obedience?"_

 _"Skill?"_

 _The blonde shook his head and let out an audible groan, causing the children to let out a sound of shock. They clearly couldn't comprehend what he was trying to teach them with this was suppose to be an easy to notice thing and yet they all were so oblivious to it that it actually hurt him inside. It was such a fundamental for being a ninja that it was something they were told to value the first day of being at the Academy. Now impatient, he looked at them angrily and pointed his finger at them one by one. "It's TEAMWORK. If you came at me all together, while it was still unlikely you would have won, you would have had a better chance at getting what you were supposed to steal from me than what you all decided to do instead."_

 _The trio stayed there in silence as they all tried to process what he was trying to instill in them._

 _"Rin, thinking she would have gotten in the way, decided to just stay in hiding when she was constantly near both of you and prayed that you could handle this own your own. Doing that was pretty much begging me to kill them if I wasn't a Leaf ninja like you."_

 _"...Sorry," the girl muttered so low that no one but her could hear. She was on the verge of tears._

 _"Hey! Don't make her cry! I'm going to kick your ass when I get untied!" the one wearing goggles shouted from the top of his longs._

 _"You are? If only you showed that dedication for both of your teammates," the man stated while looking at the boy with silver hair. "You didn't though, Obito. What you did show me was incredible selfishness by yelling at your comrade to constantly get out of the way and tried to fight me in single combat even though you had absolutely no chance of beating me by yourself. Overconfidence like that gets you a one way ticket to death."_

 _The goggle wearing kid did nothing but look at the ground while the adult's glare continued to look directly at the final child. "Damn it, he's right. I would have been killed if that was a ninja from another village."_

 _"Finally, there's you, Kakashi. You decided that the other two would be of no help to you and tried to confront me by yourself. You didn't even care about the fact that Obito can't swim when I threw him into the lake. You don't have any of the values that your father cherished so much."_

 _The mention of his father drove the silver head over the edge. He pulled out the short blade strapped to his back and tried to impale the adult, fully intending to kill him. His parent's failure to go with the Shinobi Code was the reason why he was so adamant about law and rules. The fact someone else brought out the stupid values that he tried to erase from his brain again made him want to end this man. "Teamwork doesn't matter, only the laws all shinobi are to follow!"_

 _The man shook his head again before disappearing from sight. The other two looked for him while Kakashi did nothing but charge forward thinking that he only went farther ahead. What he didn't realize however was that feet were now on his back and pushing him down to the hard earth. Standing on top of him now was the same person he was just trying to kill, a special three pronged kunai knife in hand. He was absolutely defeated once again, and this time he couldn't help but punch the dirt in frustration. The only thing the spectators could do was open their mouths and watch in absolute shock._

 _"You've all known each other for years and yet you make it seem like this is the first time that you all met. Watching each other, supporting each other, fighting together, that's what makes a true shinobi. You're all suppose to be comrades, act like it!"_

* * *

"Don't sulk here all day. You're suppose to be an inspirational instructor tomorrow." the man was snapped back to reality when he heard Rin address him. She slowly stood up and looked at Kakashi. "You should head home now; you'll catch a cold if you stay here for too long."

"I see. You finally realized your feelings for him and were trying to cheer me up so I would leave and you could be alone with Obito. Gotta say, nice strategy, Rin," the man remarked as he also rose from the ground, getting a shocked reaction from the woman. His expression was one of joy, making it obvious that he was smiling under his mask. "There's a festival going on right? Let's get going."

Rin couldn't help but get a smile on her face as she grabbed Kakashi's hand and started heading towards the center of the village. She came to calm her nerves about being a Jonin instructor and while she wasn't completely confident yet, she was extremely grateful for the short talk with her former comrade.

* * *

The heavens poured down upon a very barren looking city as a man with long red hair stared upon the sky, an orange spiral mask in hand. His black robe continued to absorb the water hitting it while he refused to move from his place. A lone black cloth with a metal forehead protector with four vertical lines crossed out by a horizontal one was lying on the ground while the man observed the clouds. It was quite difficult to tell because of the hard downpour, but tears were coming down his face for an unknown reason.

He hated everything that this world stood for. He was appalled by the fact that murderers were heralded as heroes in other villages and that killing the innocent had absolutely no consequences if it occurred by accident. He was robbed of everything that he could love because of the unfair laws of the universe and he wasn't offered anything at all in order to show that people actually had mercy or they were deeply sorry for the mistake they made. He realized long ago that the way this world was now was so rigid that there was only one possible way for everything to begin anew. A solution that was so obvious and yet required such delicate planning in order to fully realize, it was a solution that he needed someone else to guide him to that point.

This land that used to be so beautiful was now nothing but a sullen remnant of bitter memories of a war that obliterated everything. The few that remained here were scarred by the terrible side of humanity they laid witnessed to or were much too loyal to their struggling country to even think of abandoning it. These isolationists were much too focused on recreating their home in order to have the epiphany that the man watching them from the highest building received. It was for that reason that none of them were the messiah of the world and why the red head was the god that this world needed so desperately. While many had suffered by the hands of the wicked, none had come even close to the pain that he endured.

He opened his right eye, revealing purple pupils with no sign of white anywhere. The look he was giving would send shivers down anyone's spine if he made eye contact with anyone at the moment. The most intimidating feature of it however were the black rings that encircled it. It was the true sign that he could ascend to the level of a god. A sacred relic passed down the ages to those that would cause a revolution.

"This world…judgment shall be passed upon it."

* * *

 **A/N: And finally done with my first attempt at writing Naruto. Quite a number of different events took place from canon it seems. Rin is alive, Obito actually dying during the Third Shinobi War (Making that clear now. Yes, he is dead), and other surprises in what I hope becomes a story that many can enjoy reading. With the intros out of the way (for the most part, got to introduce others eventually) we can get into the real theme of the story now! Next time, the Genin teams are announced and we find out the Jonin instructors for each squad. We'll also see the bell test since I do love it so for some odd reason, but with a twist or two this time. See ya then!**


	2. Chapter 1: Luck

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series; all credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto for creating this series._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Luck**

* * *

Naruto let out a loud yawn as he rubbed his eyes and stood up from the lone bed inside of his apartment. The sunlight managed to enter the room through the windows as the time for his ninja orientation drew closer and closer. His black sleeping cap slowly fell off his head once he decided to finally stand on his two feet. He slowly walked over to the refrigerator to prepare his breakfast for the day.

 _"Let's see…gotta have ramen of course. Think I'm gonna pass on milk though today since I gotta get used to drinking water on missions."_

Once finishing his food, the boy walked over to his bed and kneeled down to the ground to reach for the clothes that he kept under there for special occasions. A smile was plastered on his face after putting on his orange tracksuit and looked himself in the mirror. Naruto always thought he was an attractive person, but for some reason he was way more better looking than normal. He was wearing the same thing he usually did and he didn't get a haircut or anything. Maybe it was because for the first time since getting it from Iruka-sensei, he would wear his headband.

"A ninja's gotta make a dramatic entrance during his debut. Need to think of something big when I get to the classroom," the boy told himself while still staring at himself in the mirror.

He made the finishing touches to his appearance, tying the blue cloth around his forehead being the most important addition to his attire. Naruto gave his reflection a thumbs-up before walking over to a drawer that was used for storing items that he rarely used. The way he moved his hand through the group of objects made it seem like he was playing the carnival game that involved catching fish, trying to find the perfect one for him. A chuckle came out of his mouth once he decided to take smoke bombs from the storage and use them for his 'debut'.

"Yeah, this'll do. I got a great idea that I can use them for."

Naruto placed the tools in his pockets and headed for the front door. With a large grin on his face, he stepped outside and started running towards the Ninja Academy. Starting today, he would officially begin his duties as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village and take his first step towards to accomplishing his dream.

* * *

"I can't help but feel nervous about today even though I had that talk with Kakashi. Maybe I'm not really instructor material after all." Rin let out a sigh while putting her arms behind her back and taking a step forward. She was walking down the streets of Konoha in order to clear her head before going to the Academy to meet her first team of Genin.

The brunette rubbed the purple rectangle over her left check as small things she shouldn't have been worried about started to creep in her mind after that comment she made to herself. Sure she was considered an exceptional teacher back during her days as a Chunin, but she had doubts about whether or not that experience would translate well into actual battle preparations. She knew firsthand how out of control missions could end up getting, especially during times of conflict between multiple villages or during periods of outright war. The woman suddenly felt like someone like her could never prepare her students enough for the terrible times that stood before them, that she would end up screwing up their futures because of her inept in leadership. She wasn't an awe inspiring model like her sensei and she wasn't an amazing ninja that her students could look up to like Kakashi. She didn't even have the will or determination that people like Obito showed before dying for all that they loved. She was just a kunoichi whose skills reached a level above normal because of the genius shinobi she was exposed to ever since she was a little girl.

She started to wonder what she even did to deserve the promotion in the first place. While she was one of the many Chunin to serve valiantly in the Third Great Shinobi War, she only acted as a mere supporting actress in the whole ordeal while Kakashi and Obito did all the hard work her team was credited for accomplishing. Her sensei was one of the greatest heroes in the history of Konoha so that might have influenced others' decision to promote her, but she thought that status was more of a benefit for her former teammate than it was for her since Kakashi was a feared shinobi across the world and was often considered the man most worthy of becoming the next Hokage. Sure she was one of the few medic ninjas currently stationed in the Leaf Village and could be considered a genius for learning it by the age of eleven, but she thought that made the case that she should be someone that was commanded instead of being someone that led.

The only reason why Rin didn't want to just abandon her new responsibility was because of the simple fact that others believed in her for some odd reason. Her friends all encouraged the Third Hokage to get her to this position, even though she told them endlessly she just didn't have the ability to do it. The brunette failed to realize that she was the exact opposite of the youth of Konoha; a vast majority of them were overconfident in their abilities while she just didn't understand how skilled she was.

It was at that moment that she noticed Naruto walking down an alley with a large grin on his face. This was the first she had seen the boy that had garnered the reputation of a prankster since failing his graduation exam. The fact she was present when he couldn't create even one replica for Iruka made her extremely confused to see him head towards the Academy and made her outright curious when she saw that the boy was wearing the headband that students received when they passed the test. The last thing she even heard about Naruto was that he stole an ancient scroll used by the First Hokage and attempted to run off with it for some unknown reason. The only reaction the brunette could do was turn her head in confusion and let out a shocked reaction.

Taking notice of the observer, Naruto momentarily stopped in place and waved his hand to his former Academy teacher. From what he recalled about his days in school, Rin was the instructor for medical situations during a mission and offered a medical jutsu class for those that were really fascinated in her lesions. Of course, the boy did not remotely care about any of his studies, so he never bothered to take any of the advanced classes such as that or stealth oriented lessons. He more remembered the woman for being one of the only teachers that didn't yell at him every time he slept in class or failed to do the assignment correctly as well as also treating him to some food whenever he seemed down. It was for those reasons that the boy really liked the brunette. Of course, his favorite was still Iruka, but it didn't mean he couldn't have two teachers that he cherished.

Naruto was also curious about why Rin was walking in the streets at this time. It was currently eight o'clock, which meant that she should have started her first class by now. He was always late to class, so he found it pretty hypocritical that one of the people that reprimanded him for that was taking her sweet time as well, even though the brunette didn't yell at him herself. "Shouldn't you be at orientation for the new kids or teaching the year under us or something?"

 _"That idiot, he must have been sleeping when I told everyone that they were my last class,"_ the woman thought as she let out a giggle. She just couldn't be mad at Naruto for that long for some reason. Maybe because she knew his parents really well. She couldn't tell the boy about them of course; otherwise he would become a target for enemy ninjas. "What, you aren't happy to see me?"

"Na, it's not that. I just got yelled at all time by everyone for being late and yet they're going to let you do it." An angry expression was currently on Naruto's face. "Not fair I tell ya, not fair."

Rin let out a small smile once the boy finished voicing his complaints. His cluelessness really was something else. She would tell him the truth once the orientation ended. "Haha, sorry about that. I'll keep that in mind next time."

"Ya better," Naruto replied with an annoyed sounding tone in his voice. He started walking towards the Academy as Rin continued to stare at him.

Even though he acted pretty much the same way during his days as a student, the woman felt something inside of him that told her that he had grown a lot since then too. While he still moved forward with a chip on his shoulder, it seemed possible now for him to someday remove that chip in her honest opinion. She wanted to see if far this boy could become a Hokage that had the power to be acknowledged by everyone even though he was the most hated person in the village. He had overcome many odds already, as signified by his blue headband, and the way he talked made it obvious that he was ready to overcome so much more in the future.

The mention of that headband instantly caused the question that Rin first thought of when she saw the boy to enter her mind again. "Say, Naruto, I know this is probably something weird to ask since it's in the past but, how exactly did you pass the graduation test? I was in the examination room and you could barely make one clone…"

The blonde let out a loud laugh as he scratched the back of his head with his left hand. However he did it didn't seem to matter since it appeared that he wouldn't spill the beans no matter how much the woman pressed him. The grin on his face made it obvious that it was something he would brag about if he was allowed to. Maybe she should talk to Iruka over some ramen and ask him the story after she finished meeting her three Genin.

"What kind of shinobi reveals his tricks just like that?" the boy teased, still grinning.

Rin had to admit, Naruto did have a point. It wasn't exactly the best idea to tell someone your secret jutsu since they could use that knowledge to come up with a counter to it. It also wasn't very smart to constantly brag about your achievements since it would cause one's ego to inflate greatly. The fact that someone like Naruto actually considered these factors greatly impressed the Jonin. She definitely didn't have any second thoughts about her belief in the boy at the moment. Of course, being Naruto, he could change anyone's opinion in just a matter of seconds like he was about to with what came out of his mouth next.

The blonde let out another laugh before forming a cross sign with both sets of his index and middle fingers. "I'm not that boring guy that would say that and mean it! I'm gonna show ya my new signature technique!"

Blue energy started to gather around Naruto as Rin looked on in disappointment. She should have seen this coming in all honestly. It was quite common practice back in his childhood for the boy to appear to have learned his lesson only for him to go back on it later and repeat his mistake. The most prominent of these showcases was when he painted on the faces of the four previous Hokage that rested on the mountain at the back of the village and apologized for it, only to put even more offensive drawings on them a week later. So it shouldn't have been a shock to her that the boy would say that he wouldn't brag or show off only for him to immediately go back on his word. Yet, she honestly wanted to believe that he had matured even a little bit.

As the energy continued to orbit the young one, three pillars started to rise adjacent to Naruto. He was using up quite a lot of chakra doing whatever he was doing. The brunette was fairly certain that her former student was using way more than necessary and would have to learn how to converse his energy once his real training began. His sensei would be able to teach him the importance of conservation, she was fairly certain of that.

"So how's this, Rin-sensei?!" four voices asked in an excited unison. Four perfect copies of Naruto stood side by side, all with giant smirks on their faces.

"Shadow Clones huh," the woman muttered, hiding a small smile on her face. She never thought that the boy would have been able to learn the first forbidden jutsu on the Secret Scroll of the First Hokage in such a short time. Iruka must have been the one to find him that night and saw these clones. She definitely needed to have that talk later.

At that moment, a puff of smoke engulfed the three doppelgangers that caused Rin to cover her face for a few seconds. The copies were gone by the time she could see again but that didn't mean that the grin on Naruto's face was. It was obvious that he had great pride in the fact that he had a signature jutsu now. Rin however, wondered what he would do in order to take his new technique to an even higher level. She knew that Naruto would train night and day in order to find a way to make anything that he liked into his own thing because he always looked forward instead of relishing in the present. He was just like his father in that respect.

The boy waved goodbye once realizing that he was going to be tardier than he intended to be for his orientation. Watching him run off towards the Academy, Rin couldn't help but feel rejuvenated after their little discussion just passed. She knew she had to try her best at her new job if even Naruto refused to give up in the face of adversity. If she was face to face with a troubling situation, the only way out of it was to bust open the door and charge forward, not cower in fear over and over again. It didn't matter if she was in everyone's shadows as long as she at least gave an honest effort in getting out of that darkness.

Rin observed the boy leaving as she looked up to the sky. A look of relief was on her face as she stared at the many clouds now floating in the infinite blue domain. _"It's a shame that I won't be Naruto's instructor, sensei. I'm sure he could have taught me so much more. Well, no one ever said the world of shinobi was easy. I'll do my best for my comrades too!"_

* * *

Iruka let out a sigh as he held Naruto by the collar of his orange jacket. The boy was caught attempting to try another one of his dumb pranks and was currently getting reprimanded for it. A few of the other Genin were currently coughing up a storm because of the blonde's practical joke and no one was laughing at his stupidity. Not only did he attempt to cause mass hysteria, he honestly believed a capable ninja like Iruka would fall for such a trick. The brunette probably had some feelings of regret for going back on his decision to fail Naruto right about now.

"Damn it, Naruto! Why do you keep pulling this crap even after becoming a Genin?!" the man asked in rage. The blonde broke free from his captor's grip and began leaning against the wall with a smile on his face.

Moving his hands while talking, he explained, "Iruka-sensei, you should know that your first entrance shows how capable you are. If I had a weak one, no one would acknowledge me and my greatness!"

"Can't acknowledge what you don't have, idiot!" someone shouted from the back, causing Naruto's smile to quickly transform into an angry expression.

"I dare ya to say that again! I'm the only person here that can pull off the Shad…" The older male hit the boy upside the head with his right knuckle. He hoped that even Naruto realized that revealing the fact that he learned a forbidden technique by stealing a highly secret scroll would be a terrible idea but it looked like the biggest blabbermouth in the country couldn't keep his mouth shut even for something sacred like that.

"Just take your seat," Iruka demanded, pointing at an empty spot for the blonde to sit down.

With a look of disappointment on his face, the Genin walked from the front of the classroom to near the center of the cluster of tables. Most of his other peers gave him varying expressions of annoyance or anger when he was walking up the green stairs that led to his designated spot in the room. His magnificent debut was completely ruined and now his creditability went down a lot because of it. He just didn't seem to get what happened to make his plan fail so horribly.

Once reaching the spot that was pointed out to him, Naruto finally noticed the two people that were sitting in the seats directly adjacent to it and received mixed reactions from it. On the one hand, one of the people that were in that row was Sakura Haruno, the girl that he had a crush on ever since he was a little kid. He couldn't help but be attracted to her even though she rarely showed signs of respect to him because she was absolutely beautiful in his opinion. The blonde knew that he would be able to convince the pink hair genius that he was a man worthy of her love if they ended up on the same squad. Sakura would have to fall for him once she saw his Shadow Clone Jutsu for the first time.

Although, there was only one obstacle in the way of Naruto's road to love and he was sitting in the same row as Sakura. Just seeing his overconfident looking face always put the blonde in a foul mood because all the girls in the class thought he was the greatest human in the world or something. The troublemaker wished that everyone would just accept the fact that this guy was extremely overrated compared to a real genius like himself. If they were to fight in an actual battle, he knew that the raven black haired boy wouldn't be able to last ten seconds against him. Thoughts like these entered Naruto's mind every time he stepped into the same room as only rival, Sasuke Uchiha.

Before a confrontation could be started, Iruka let out a loud cough that gained the attention of every kid in the class. It was finally time for the moment that they were all waiting for. Their destinies would be decided here and now. This group would see just how lucky they would were exactly. They would learn who their future comrades would be from this point on.

* * *

 _"Let's see…as long as I end up with Sakura, I don't really care who else is with us. Better not be Sasuke though, we don't need that loser bringing us down."_ Naruto rested his head on the wooden desk top without a care in the world.

"Squad Two: Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Hinata Hyuga."

Sakura looked over to her far left and continued staring at the Uchiha that every other female in the class was infatuated with. It was time for her to show all her rivals that her love was the strongest of them all. It was her time to prove to her one love that she would do anything for him to return her feelings for him. It was time for her to showcase how she would end up being the greatest woman to walk out of this room today. All of that was possible, in her opinion, as long as she and Sasuke weren't put on the same team as that failure.

The top Genin in this group of former students sat in his seat with a blank expression on his face. He didn't care who he was assigned with as long as they didn't hold him back too much. This phase in his life was just a stepping stone for his ambition after all. He needed to learn as much as he possibly could from his Jonin instructor in order to become strong. He had to gain the strength needed to make that memory from long ago crumble into a million pieces. He couldn't afford distractions like weak teammates holding him back from realizing his full potential.

"Squad Four: Shino Aburame, Choji Akamichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

A loud banging sound could be heard from all the way in the back. The source of this noise, naturally, was the blonde girl that was just assigned on the team with the two weirdest people in their graduating class. The worst part of all this was the fact that her greatest enemy still had a chance of being put together with her beloved Sasuke. Today was suppose to be the day that her true love conquered all and bury Sakura deep into the ground once and for all. Instead, it felt like she was stuffed into a coffin herself and was put under twenty feet of dirt. Well, she just had to hope that Sasuke wouldn't drift far away when they couldn't be together in the village.

 _"Hell yeah! Take that Ino you pig!"_ the pink head thought in excitement. Now that her only true competition to her beloved's heart was out of the way, all she had to do was nail this selection process and get put in the same group as Sasuke.

Naruto rose from his resting position and began doing some thinking. What seemed like only a pipe dream was starting to become a completely possible reality now that around half of the other people there were assigned to a team. Both Sakura and he were still in the pool of unassigned Genin and there only a couple teams left. He had to have had an at least fifty percent chance of getting his dream partner at this point. He would have to get a word or two in with Iruka-sensei if he didn't get his way this time. A summit might or might not be decorated again if he ended up without the person he wanted the most.

"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki…"

The troublemaker began to tense up a little once he heard his name. There was no time for fear or regret. The only thing he could do right now was face this challenge head on and beat it. Still though, he decided to offer a silent prayer to whatever being was watching over them. _"Here we go."_

"Sakura Haruno…"

It was over. It actually became a reality. The girl that he wanted to team with to prove that he was suitable for her love was actually going to be his comrade from this day on. Naruto was so happy he could probably cry at this point and not feel ashamed. This must be what it felt like for a solider that was fighting in a war for over ten years to get the news that it was actually over and it concluded in victory. The one thing the boy was capable of doing now was throwing his fist in the air in celebration of this amazing circumstance.

Sakura on the other hand, was the complete opposite of enthusiastic at the moment. She was dangerously close of seeing her target of affection slip away from her grasp and she couldn't do anything to stop it if that unfortunately did occur. What made it even worse though, was the fact that the one person she didn't want to be with was her first announced teammate in this trio. Whatever deity watched over this world definitely had a cruel sense of humor if her worst fears were realized. She might even quit being a ninja if this situation didn't improve in the way she hoped it would. Still though, there wasn't anything she could do about this until they finished the announcements. The pink head lowered her head in depression as she waited for the last member of this squadron to be said.

"…and Sasuke Uchiha."

As if by magic, the two's roles were switched at the mention of the third name, while the owner of the name sat there with his same stoic expression. Sakura quickly stood up and raised her arms in victory "Yay!"

"Iruka-sensei, I can't deal with this bull! Why is an amazing genius like me stuck with a loser who should just dropout like Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled in frustration while jumping up from his seat.

"You know…you shouldn't throw your new comrade in the cold like that," the brunette began with a sigh. "I'll answer that if you insist though. Of the thirty newly appointed Genin, Sasuke's scores were easily the best of the class. We obviously want to have these teams to be balanced. It's for that reason that the student with the best scores was put on the same team as you, the student with the lowest."

A roar of laughter exploded after the explanation led to the revelation that everyone could tell from the start. The person to the blonde's left finally decided to give him a short glance before going back to focusing at the front of the classroom. "Just don't get in my way, loser."

"Alright, everyone quiet down! Let me finish reading off the list so I can announce your Jonin instructors."

In a way, all three members of the newly christened Team Seven were both lucky and extremely unlucky. The lone female of the group was put in the same group as the one person she had her eyes on, but it seemed like she was given the worst ninja in the entire class as a way to test her patience. The one that everyone actually called a prodigy wished that he would be put on a team that wouldn't hold him back and he somewhat got what he desired. While the pink head girl would be able to keep up when it came to learning how the techniques they would be taught worked, she wouldn't be able to do most of them since she had one of the lowest chakra levels out there. On the flip side, while his buffoon of a second teammate would probably be able to do the jutsu eventually, it would take a long time for him to grasp how to actually do it since he could barely perform hand signs. Add the fact that the one with the lowest test scores was a loudmouth that refused to acknowledge when he just couldn't do something and would be consistently trying to get close to the girl he liked or yelling at the rival that he despised more than anyone, and this was an absolutely disastrous team on paper. There was no way any Jonin would be able to steer these three to a respectable level of cooperation.

* * *

"So why the hell are just our teams' instructors the late ones?!" Kiba yelled in unison with Akamaru's yelp.

It had been an hour since Genin squads and their instructors had been announced to the group of thirty and the room was empty with the exceptions of Team Two and Seven. Waiting impatiently right next to the door was the dynamic duo of boy and dog that had been inseparable since the day they entered the Academy together. Considering himself a wild man, the future head of the Inuzuka Clan constantly told others that standing still just wasn't his forte. Both of them constantly sneaked out of lessons during their time in school in acts that would ultimately cost him the second highest ranking out of all the passing members of the group. So the fact that he was itching to get a move on surprised absolutely no one. However, it still annoyed them when Kiba refused to stop bragging about a secret move that he taught Akamaru to empty his bladder in style because of the fact that he was extremely bored.

Unlike his hyperactive counterpart, Shikamaru Nara was a lazy smartass that wasn't afraid to express his opinions in the slightest. While Kiba was watching the door in anticipation, the future heir to the Nara clan lied on his back and tried his best to catch up on his sleep. His near insomniac like qualities were the reason why he received the third worst grades thus placed on the same team as the guy that ended up getting third in the rankings, but it didn't seem to bother him that much if at all. Shikamaru was surely the kind of guy that just didn't care enough to put in the effort for a middle ranking in the class.

"Wait, Kiba, I got a great idea!" Naruto exclaimed while holding a chalkboard eraser in his hand. "That'll show 'em for being late."

The third member of Team Two just stood there in silence. Hinata Hyuga, a member of the esteemed Hyuga Clan, was not a lazy person and she definitely was not the hyperactive type. She was incredibly shy to the point she could barely say a word. Most of the time she was considered an outcast among her female peers because of the fact she barely talked as well as the fact that unlike most of the girls in the class, she didn't actually love Sasuke. Her attention was focused on someone that nobody knew except her. Not even the blonde knucklehead that was the target of her crush had the faintest clue. She didn't have the courage to even look at him for anything longer than a minute, so she hoped that the calm Shikamaru and the outspoken Kiba would be able to help her break out of her shell. She knew that she had to overcome this obstacle if she wanted Naruto to notice her.

"Naruto, don't be an idiot. They're going to get mad at us for this!" Sakura shook her head, hiding the fact that she would actually enjoy it greatly if those Jonin fell for it.

Sasuke looked out the window, ignoring all the commotion that was going on at the moment. "You have to be pretty stupid to think shinobi like them would fall for a prank like that."

Before anyone could reply to the boy's completely reasonable observation, the sound of a door opening ringed in the ears of everyone that was currently present. They all turned towards the entrance in order to figure out who they were going to be mad at and see what kind of excuse they would use to get around their tardiness. Most importantly, everyone but Naruto wondered what method the two would choose to avoid getting hit by the eraser on top of the door. So saying they were shocked would be an understatement when a man with spiky silver hair walked into the room and was actually tapped by the small black object. A small thud noise was made once the object bounced off his head and fell to the floor. Laughter could be heard from the one that set up the trap.

Kakashi Hatake looked down at the eraser and knelt down to pick it up. He felt the powder resting on his head since the moment that his hit was hit by it. He had a happy looking expression as Sasuke and Sakura walked over to Naruto's side and watched what he was about to do. Kakashi gave the trio a quick glance before placing his left hand on his chin. He made a small hum while the three anticipated his first words to them.

Once finally deciding what he should say, the man looked at his new students with the happiest expression on his face. "How should I say this? I hate all you."

All three of them gave him a look of disappointment in response. That was probably the worst first impression anyone could get and they were told that because of one idiot's idea. Kiba couldn't help but let out a loud laugh while Shikamaru continued sleeping and Hinata stood there in silence. This great scene made Kiba completely forget about his annoyance with his own Jonin and cheered him up to the point that he didn't even care if they didn't show up at all anymore. Shikamaru also reached that point, but for the simple reason that he could just relax for another day instead of just enjoying seeing other people's misfortunes.

"Geez, Kakashi, don't be so harsh. It's your own fault for letting your guard down against our village's number one prankster," a woman stated while walking in behind him. A smile was on her face as she looked at the other three children in the room.

"Rin-sensei?! You're their teacher now?! Why didn't ya tell me you were one of them?!" Naruto asked furiously. The brunette did nothing but shake her head because that just confirmed that he slept through her announcement.

"You really are a clueless idiot," Sakura told the blonde with a deadpan look on her face.

"Wait, you were walking with me this morning! How did you end up being so late?" the boy questioned while turning his head. He was hiding the depression he was going through after Sakura insulted him yet again.

Rin looked over to the silver haired man before turning her attention back to Naruto. "I ended up meeting Kakashi along the way. And…well…you'll learn eventually."

She let out a nervous laugh before getting a disappointed looking stare from her friend. "What's that suppose to mean, Rin? I'm deeply hurt by that you know."

 _"Liar,"_ All three members of Team Seven thought in unison while the brunette let out another nervous laugh.

"Anyway, Team Seven, meet me up on the roof in five minutes. We're going to have a quick briefing." Kakashi left the room before any of them could argue.

The woman watched her friend leave before focusing on her team again. Her first impression of them was that this would make an interesting bunch that seemed to have a bright future in head of them. She definitely had her work cut out for her though based on her prior knowledge on this group. She had to begin putting ideas together to figure out how she wanted to approach this new challenge in her life. For now though, she only had one plan that made sense. "Since Team Seven is going to be on the roof, we'll stay right here. We're also going to have a quick meeting before starting our duties tomorrow."

Once hearing that, Sasuke and Sakura both left to get to their gathering. Right before he stepped out the door, Naruto turned around and looked at his former teacher in the eye, "See ya around, Rin-sensei! Let's have some ramen soon!"

"Yeah, that sounds great," Rin replied before walking over to him and placing her hand on his right shoulder. "Let me tell you something first, Naruto. No matter the mission, never forget that you and your comrades need to help each other."

With a nod, the blonde waved goodbye before running to catch up to his teammates. Now that he was gone, the woman turned to her team and smiled. "Alright, let's get started!"

* * *

"Let's get the introductions out of the way now. Name, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future…anything you think we should know about you."

Kakashi was sitting on the railing of the roof with a bored looking expression on his face at the moment. The sky was currently a clear blue and the position of the sun told him that the time was around fifteen minutes after noon. He wanted to wrap this up quickly so he could go home and prepare some lunch since he was extremely hungry right about now. Besides, these children didn't seem interesting enough to have a life outside of the books or getting yelled at. There was no way he'd be stuck here for over an hour listening to boring tales of their childhoods or something.

Naruto looked to his two fellow Genin before glazing at his teacher in confusion. "Show us how it's done, teach. I mean, we know absolutely nothing about ya."

"Want me to go first? Well, if you insist," Kakashi began as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't really feel like saying what I like or what I hate. My dream…never really thought about it, I'll get back to you on that. I have a lot of hobbies, so I'll just say enjoying life. Alright, it's time for the lady of the group to go."

It was pretty clear that Naruto wasn't satisfied with the answers he got from the man. He very clearly dodged the questions and didn't say anything that they didn't already know. Yet he still expected to hear everything about the trio. The only thing he could take away from this is probably a little more information about Sasuke and Sakura that they never stated during the years that he knew them both.

"Fine, I'll go. My name is Sakura Haruno and my hobbies are…and my likes are…My dream for the future is to..." a giggle came out of the girl's mouth after every sentence. She couldn't reveal who the obvious subject of all these things were if she tried. "And I hate idiots that think they know everything."

 _"So this is what kunoichi do in times of peace? Worry about boys instead of being a ninja?"_ Kakashi shook his head before looking at Sasuke. "Kid with the scowl on his face, you're next."

"Sasuke Uchiha. It's pointless to say what I hate because there's too many to count and I don't particularly like anything. I have no hobbies since they won't help me get stronger. As for my dream…that's only a word used to say you won't make it come true so I don't have one. What I do have is an ambition because I **will** make it a reality. I'm going to kill a certain man…and restore the Uchiha Clan."

There was a brief period of silence while everyone processed what the normally collected boy just revealed about himself. A gentle breeze blew through the apparently lone survivor of the Uchiha's hair as he began thinking about an incident that took place a long time ago. There was a clear tone of anger in his voice the moment he started talking about his dream and his desire to eliminate an individual that he didn't name. While Kakashi had a pretty good idea about who he was referring to, Naruto had no idea and actually feared that the target of Sasuke's rage was himself. It seemed like bringing up this subject would be taboo since the boy's scowl turned into a look of absolute hatred. Making him mad was probably the worst thing anyone could do at this point.

Wanting to avoid opening a can of worms that he didn't want to tackle at the moment, he looked over to the only one there that didn't say anything about himself yet. "Shorty, you're the last one."

The prankster resisted the urge to flip the man off for calling him short and instead leaped to his feet with a grin on his face. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. My hobby is pulling off pranks I guess. What I like is ramen and I really like when Iruka or Rin-sensei take me out for some Ichiraku ramen. I hate the three minute wait it takes while cooking ramen though. My dream is also something that I'm gonna make happen. To become a Hokage that is even greater than the Fourth, that's my goal! That way, everyone will have to acknowledge me as a true shinobi!"

The Jonin let out a chuckle before watching the sky. "Is that to so? Now that we got the intros out of the way, I have an announcement. We're going to have our first mission tomorrow. Meet up at Training Ground Number Three at five in the morning and don't be late. Oh, and if you don't want to puke, it'd be a smart idea to pass on breakfast."

With that, Kakashi waved goodbye and disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving his three students to wonder what the mission could be. They had no idea what challenge was facing them the next day.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's finished! First things first, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the new cover image for the story! Made it myself during writing breaks. As for the actual chapter, it was a fairly simple one with some more hints to Naruto and Rin's relationship. I originally wanted to mix up the squads some more, but I wanted to keep Team Seven the way it was and you could mix up two teams a certain so oh well. Team Four's Jonin will be revealed at a later point since they won't be in a spotlight for awhile, but don't worry, they will be eventually. This may seem the same as canon for the most part, but I assure you that it'll be farther away the longer this story goes on.**

 **As for what I said in the last author's note…I deeply apologize for not having the bell test in this chapter. The scene where Naruto and Rin talk before heading to the Academy as well as the Genin selection ended up being way longer than I originally thought they would end up being (I thought I could tackle everything covered in under 3500 words but that didn't happen as you saw) and I didn't want to make this drag on any longer than it had to. Besides, the bell test deserves its own chapter in all honesty since it is the first major battle in the story (Mizuki and Ebisu are canon, but they were exactly the same so I didn't feel the need to write about them) and I have a couple surprises in store for it.**

 **I'm planning on starting review responses next chapter so don't be afraid to leave a review, I promise I'll address your question! Though, if it's spoilers, I'm probably either going to dodge the question or wait till the chapter that it's answered in if it's fairly soon.**

 **That about covers everything for now I think, so I'll see you all next time with the bell test (I promise). Till then!**


	3. Chapter 2: Comrade

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series; all credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto for creating this series._

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Comrade**

* * *

Birds could be heard singing from the trees as Sakura sat against a brown tree stump that stuck out of the ground in Training Ground Three. It was currently seven in the morning, a whole two hours after her and the rest of Team Seven were told to assemble there by their teacher. They had been out there for so long that the one that usually was extremely loud and overbearing was currently knocked out on top of the dirt. She could probably hear some sleep muttering come out of his mouth if she listened close enough. The pink head would have gladly slept in and show up later if any of them knew that they'd be doing nothing for so long. She had to show some diligence though, otherwise she'd be blindsided by her sensei coming out of nowhere.

The girl looked to her right to see Sasuke standing in solitude like he tended to back in the Academy days whenever they went out to the fields. His eyes were currently shut to show his contempt for their Jonin instructor's inability to tell time. It seemed like that even the usually composed Uchiha couldn't handle tardiness very well. The time he was currently wasting here waiting could have been used to improve the jutsu he was currently working on. He also could do without the extremely obnoxious snoring coming out from his idiot teammate that he did while deep in slumber apparently. Despite his look of annoyance, Sakura couldn't help but think that he still looked quite dreamy.

 _"No, you have to focus, Sakura! You're a ninja now!"_ the girl thought while slapping her cheeks. She couldn't afford to be constantly distracted by her crush anymore.

The girl began taking note of the environment that she thought would become a familiar place to Team Seven from this day on. Training Ground Three was adjacent to a forest, so saying there were hundreds of trees wouldn't be an exaggeration. The dirt the three students were resting on was a light brown that clashed with the bright green tint that the grass was colored. There was a large crystal blue lake out in the distance if Sakura looked out far enough. She also noticed a gray boulder standing near where the trio were currently resting at. This place probably wasn't used much despite the fact it was a field set aside for training since the dirt still looked fresh compared to the more popular turf like Training Ground Seven or Eleven.

It wasn't just a lack of human activity either, the only animals that seemed to frequent this place were the birds currently singing their lovely tune. There weren't any woodland critters looking for food early in the morning and there wasn't any sign of sleeping animals anywhere in the forest. It couldn't be possible that there were no inhabitants at all in such a large area like that. It was almost as if it was some kind of warning; a warning that said that this training field would turn into an all out battlefield today and that the creatures that called it home were hiding for their lives right now.

Sakura shook her head when the thought of a fight like that came to mind. The man that was looking over them from today on couldn't possibly be cruel enough to get them a mission that could get them killed right off the bat. _"I hope anyway…"_

A lone leaf from a branch high above her head started dancing in Sakura's line of vision. This strange occurrence caused her to somewhat recall a lesson from when she was around six years old that she obviously aced, or that's how she recalled it anyway. From what she remembered, it required her to gather all of her chakra at the center of a leaf that rested on her forehead and to remove it without the use of her hands. It was a simple exercise designed to show the kids that had trouble focusing just how effective using that skill anyone could learn really was. Of course, the pink head wasn't one of those people in her opinion, so she felt that there was no point to teach the entire class when it was only four or five students that actually needed it. She couldn't have known just how much that activity would end up helping her for the upcoming mission.

Feeling a breeze go through his hair, Sasuke opened his eyes and also analyzed the location before focusing on the lake. Much like the girl got when she stared at the leaf, the raven black haired one received a feeling of nostalgia from watching the ripples on top of the body of water. It reminded him of a period in his childhood that he proved that he could take the next step to becoming a shinobi. He successfully pulled off a highly advanced jutsu over a lake that greatly resembled the one before him and received the praise of someone that he desperately wanted to impress. It was a memory he tried to keep deep within him however…it was from a time before his ambition was born.

"Good morning, students!" a voice called from the distance.

Sakura immediately recognized the owner and stood up in anger. "You're late!"

"Sorry about that. You see, I ran into this black cat along the way, so I had to take the long way around."

 _"What a load of crap,"_ Sakura thought while kicking the sleeping boy next to her in order to wake him up. A few seconds later, Naruto was sitting up while covering his mouth before a yawn. Sasuke stepped over to the other two's side and gave his teacher a glare.

Kakashi Hatake stood before the three children with a happy expression on his face. His right hand was currently in the air waving hello to the clearly irritated Genin while what appeared to be a timer was kept in his left. He approached the gray stone that Sakura noticed earlier while ignoring any rude gestures he was currently being given. He didn't seem to have a care in the world as he carefully placed the alarm on the ground. A ticking sound was currently coming out of the device as the Jonin returned to his students and reached into his pocket, pulling out two silver bells attached to red string from it. He began shaking them to make a jingle as Naruto looked on in confusion. The trio looked at each other before looking back at their teacher. They really wanted to figure out what was going on inside of his head right about now.

"Today, we're going to be doing a survival exercise."

The kids winced once they heard him mention survival exercise. They had done so many of those back when they first began learning to become ninjas that they thought it would have been a waste of time at this point. Sasuke was the one to speak up. "Why are you making us do something stupid like that? Take us on an actual mission."

Kakashi's happy look on his face was replaced by a serious expression. "I'm sure you'd all love that, but truth be told…you aren't really Genin yet."

"What?! You have got to be kidding! We all graduated from the Academy! What was the point of all those years if graduating from there doesn't make us ninja?!" Naruto questioned with rage.

A sadistic sounding laugh started coming out of their mentor's mouth. It was clear that he knew yet another thing that no one else there did. He placed his left hand over his chin and began pondering how he was going to phrase this. "Not really. All that time in school proved that you weren't talentless brats like the ones that failed. The fact that you stand here in front of me shows that you have the potential to be a great asset to the village. However, of the thirty of you that made it to this point…only nine of you, three teams in other words, can officially become Genin. Everyone else has to go back to the Academy to get more schooling and hope that they get a Jonin that will be less harsh next time."

Sakura let out a gasp. The look on her face showed just how scared she was of the situation. Her green eyes made it seem like she was watching someone getting slaughtered. "A seventy percent failure chance?! That seems a bit unfair to rookies like us!"

The adult's laughter got even louder at the mention of the world unfair. "I'm going to fail you all before we even begin the test at this rate. No one ever said the world of shinobi was fair."

Naruto didn't care about the odds. Even if he had less than one percent, he knew he was going to overcome it no matter what. His only question was what would e forced to do in order to prove himself. All three of them wondered what the test was as a matter of fact. After Kakashi revealed that pretty much anything was possible now, they feared that death was a very likely result of what could happen if they messed up. None of them had the courage to speak up anymore after thinking about getting killed.

"I see the look on your faces. Don't worry; your test isn't anything like killing a high ranking ninja from another village or something. It's actually real simple." The bells' jingling ringed in the trio's ears once again. "Take a bell from me before the timer goes off and you pass. If you can't do that…well, there's only one other option if you don't pass so you can figure what happens yourself. Don't bother trying if you aren't going to come at me with the intention to kill me."

It was at that moment that Naruto took out a black sharp object and made a lunge towards his teacher. He was definitely going in for the kill, completely focused on beating his sensei right there and now. He didn't even bother to wait for Sasuke and Sakura to fall soot. He ignored the sighing sound that he must have figured came from his teammates. There was no way that he was going to fail just because they weren't ready.

In reality, it was the silver head that sighed as he effortlessly grabbed Naruto's arm. In a split second, he was behind the blonde and pointed the kunai knife directly behind his head. The two observers were stunned at this display of speed. "Don't be so hasty. I didn't even say go yet."

 _"I…didn't even see him move."_ Sakura had a look of worry on her face.

Sasuke didn't show it, but he was having his own fears going through his head as well. _"So this is a Jonin. This definitely won't be just another survival exercise."_

"The looks on your faces tell me that you're starting to take me seriously. Not only that, you did come at me with the intent to kill. I think I'm starting to like you guys."

Each child let out a smile after the encouraging words of their teacher. Once given the signal, all three of them jumped into the forest and hid somewhere in its hidden darkness. The test had officially begun.

* * *

"The most basic aspect of being a shinobi is the ability to hide. At least they got that covered," Kakashi commented before taking his first step.

The man looked around at his surroundings in order to analyze every possible location that his opponents could be at. He had a lot of experience tracking down elite ninja from other villages on the battlefield, so he definitely wouldn't have any problem discovering them and their feeble attempts at hiding. He figured that he was currently being watched by one of them as he was thinking at that very moment. What he didn't expect however was the chance that one of them would literally come up to him and stare him dead in the eye. He really was dealing with the Hidden Leaf's most unpredictable ninja in history.

With a look of determination on his face, Naruto was staring down Kakashi to let him know that he would not back down. The boy that never backed down from anything was now going to partake in the biggest challenge in his life. His heart was beating faster than ever and he had a lot of sweat pouring down his face and yet he was able to put on this brave looking facade. No one could take away the fact that he had a lot of guts. However, he was about to be shown that guts wasn't the only thing that a ninja needed in order to be successful.

"You know, the most basic thing a ninja should do is hide when they're facing an obstacle they can't overcome," the man stated.

"That's good advice. Too bad I don't see anything I can't beat around!" Naruto yelled back with a great amount of confidence.

Before his teacher could retort, the blonde charged and put forward a punch that was effortlessly blocked by one hand. That one action alone showed him that he wasn't dealing with the guy that was hit by a chalkboard eraser anymore. He would seriously get killed if he continued to underestimate him that badly. Once regaining control of his knuckle, the boy landed on the ground and attempted to sweep Kakashi off his feet, only for the Jonin to hop just enough to barely dodge the attack. Not wasting any time after that, Naruto attempted to tackle his teacher but this time his efforts were avoided by a simple step to the right. He was beginning to see just how outclassed he was compared to his Jonin instructor.

Even though he missed, Naruto's momentum from the tackle continued moving him forward until he bounced off a tree and landed hard on the back of his head. A scream of pain came out of the boy's mouth as he rolled around in the dirt, much to the dismay of his teacher. Not only did he attempt such an obvious trick, he was being over-dramatic about failing said trick. He was making an absolute joke of all the previous ninja that were renowned for being stealth masters. He just couldn't believe that an Academy 'graduate' tried a frontal assault against a ninja that was way out of his league and didn't imply any strategy whatsoever.

Kakashi was seriously considering just reaching out into his pouch and pulling out a surprise because of how boring this was. If the blonde tried to punch him in the face, his fist would just be blocked and he would just leap over any sweep that he would attempt. All of his kicks to his lower abdomen would be swatted away and send him crashing hard on the ground. A second headbutt would just get him a concussion since he'd keep sidestepping and forcing him to crash into trees. Shuriken and Kunai would be deflected without any problems as long as this fool was the one throwing them. No matter what attack he did, he wouldn't connect with it because it was extremely telegraphed.

What he failed to consider however, was the fact that the boy was actually employing actual thought into each of his moves. Not once did Kakashi think that the moves were intentionally telegraphed so that he would believe that he was real. Furthermore, with that one exchange, Naruto was able to figure out brute force wouldn't be enough to break through his defense. A smirk appeared on his face while rolling on the ground, because he was able to one up his teacher. A puff of smoke engulfed the orange clad ninja while a loud bang echoed through the forest. It was a Shadow Clone.

"Maybe he isn't clueless after all," the silver head muttered before turning his head around the area once again.

The water began to rumble from the lake adjacent to Kakashi, who was seemingly oblivious to this detail. Seconds later, six copies of Naruto emerged from the blue liquid and started to gather around the man. They all started charging towards him in order to get a grip on him, but they were all avoided with greater difficulty from before. Sure one blondie was easy to avoid, but six was a different story. He had to get rid of them all quickly or else he could end up with one less bell.

"Got ya!" a voice shouted from the trees. To the dismay of the Jonin, there was a flying Genin falling from the sky.

He made a big miscalculation; Kakashi didn't consider that all six of these were clones as well. He figured that the max amount of clones the orange clad ninja could make was six and that one was out of the way when it hit the tree. Naruto was a special case though. He had enough chakra in him to probably make eight successful clones that would last five minutes because of the demon that was resting inside of him. This test definitely was more interesting than when his past students failed since he was forced to actually work this time. He didn't even face the other two yet and he already couldn't read the story that he was dying to get more into.

With no time to react, Kakashi ended up getting captured by the blonde. Applying a full nelson lock to his sensei, the boy looked over to his clones. "Alright guys, it's time to go wild! Get that bell!"

"What?! No, ignoring ninja basics isn't how this works!" Kakashi shouted in a shocked tone. He needed to distract Naruto long enough so that he could prepare for his plan. There was a real obvious way out of this that he had to hope the boy didn't know about. If he knew what he was going to do, then he'd be down one test object.

"That's just how I roll!" one clone of Naruto replied, now in the face of his opponent.

Rather than reach for his objective, the replica attempted a punch right in the jaw. It was finally time for some retribution after how much he's been pissed off by this man. It was that hunger for vengeance that would end up costing him this perfect opportunity. If he would have grabbed a bell, it would have been his right there. He didn't however, and the man was engulfed in a gather of smoke as a result. Three of the clones let out a gasp once they were able to see the scene transpire. One of the Narutos was knocked down to the ground by the punch from his clone that was supposed to be for Kakashi and disappeared after taking the hit.

Rage started to build up in all of them as they all started to stand next to each other. "Alright, which one of ya's that bastard?! He obviously used the transformation jutsu to trick us!"

No one spoke up because they all knew that they weren't the culprit. They were all glaring at another Naruto because they couldn't trust each other right now. What they didn't consider, and what would ultimately lead to their demise, was the fact that Kakashi could have used something besides the transformation jutsu to escape. Naruto was unable to notice that his opponent was watching him from a tree branch while preparing a trap for the boy.

"It's you, isn't it?!" one of the copies screamed before punching the original square in the jaw. That action led to the others to attack each other and start an all out brawl in order to find the imposter. Bruises and scrapes were appearing on all of their faces as the fists started to get more and more brutal. At this rate, they were going to kill each other before that dumb looking adult decided to drop the illusion.

"Wait a minute," the original requested while still lying on the ground. "If I drop the jutsu, only two of us will be here still right?"

All of his copies nodded in agreement and started to trade insults about why he didn't come up with that idea quicker. Ignoring their stupidity, the boy placed his fingers in a cross sign and released his technique. He turned his head to look for a second Naruto but was unable to find any success in his quick search. He slammed his head on the dirt when his exhaustion finally kicked in. It appeared that he was completely fooled by Kakashi.

"Your plan was decent in concept. However, it was executed pretty badly," the adult chimed in from somewhere in the forest.

Not caring that this was another obvious ploy from his teacher, Naruto ran into the forest and took out a kunai knife from the pouch strapped to his right hip. This was extremely personal after all of these humiliating acts. The blonde was determined to make it so that Kakashi would have to hide both of his eyes under that headband. His rage made him so susceptible to any surprise attack that would be thrown his way. He was begging to fall into the trap that was laid out just for him. Sure enough, he stepped on a lighter in color patch of grass and his foot was ensnared by a rope. His vision was flipped upside down as he was sent straight up at a fast pace. Pain shot through him once he connected with the branch, since his precious area was the part of his body that made direct contact with it.

"I'm gonna kill ya!" Naruto screamed from the top of his lungs once he was dropped on his head back onto the ground. It sounded like he lost all the air in his voice.

Kakashi stood upside from the branch adjacent to the one Naruto was currently tied to with a mocking look on his face. "Is that so? I'll test the other two while I'm waiting for you to get serious then. Oh, and by the way, anger is the worst thing a ninja can be consumed by on the battlefield. If you're controlled by it, this happens."

"I. Know. That!" the boy insisted while still trying to free himself. Annoyed didn't even begin to describe how he was feeling right now.

The silver head shook his head before starting to walk away. "No, you clearly didn't. That's why I have to tell you that in the first place."

One down, two to go.

* * *

With Naruto temporarily out of the picture, Kakashi decided to focus on the little one that had been watching their scuffle since the first move, Sakura. She had already seen the art of hand-to-hand combat fail to leave even a scratch on him so she would try to avoid physical fighting no matter what. The Jonin wasn't the type to use weapons anymore since it would cause old memories to resurface and he really would rather not have one of his students feel pity for him in the middle of a mission. Ninjutsu was also off the table since the pink head would end up hospitalized if she was hit by almost any of his special techniques. Saying no to all of those tactics pretty much meant that he had only one option.

"Alright, time for your first lesson," the man stated before jumping up to a tree branch to begin a search that he assumed wouldn't take that long.

* * *

"He just beat Naruto easily…and that idiot even had an amazing jutsu like that up his sleeve. I have no chance against Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura was currently running away from her captured comrade and looking for the one she actually cared about, Sasuke. Even if she couldn't do anything in order to win, the girl had to make sure that her beloved wouldn't get crushed by their sensei like Naruto was. She figured that she could even serve as a distraction long enough so that the Uchiha could grab a bell when the silver head was least suspecting it. That plan wasn't her ideal situation though, since she really wanted to stay by the boy's side from the beginning of their ninja journey to the end. If he passed and she didn't…it'd be safe to say that she would never be able to see him again. The lone female of Team Seven also wanted her love to get closer to his ambition in life and she wanted to help in any way she could. She might have to sacrifice any possibility of developing their relationship through words and hope that her truly genuine intentions would be enough to sway his heart.

Her inner debate was causing the pink haired Genin to lose her focus because she didn't notice that the man she was suppose to be fighting was tailing her and was beginning to close in on her. This tended to happen to her a lot ever since she began her schooling, but unlike Naruto, Iruka believed a young Sakura when she told him that she didn't lose her focus since she was a good student nonetheless. The obvious noise that her teacher's sandal made when it touched the branch directly behind her, the jingle coming from the bells, and the fact Kakashi was calling her name; Sakura had them all tuned out right now because of being caught up in her thoughts. The man would have never guessed that the genius when it came to actual brains would have a serious problem with focusing on anything that wasn't the boy that barely paid any attention to her.

 _"Unbelievable…even Rin was able to focus during the test, and she was fixated on me as bad as Sakura is on Sasuke. When did girls start to care about love more than ninjutsu?"_

Kakashi continued his monologue while he started performing hand signs. A spiral of leaves began to surround both of the ninjas as he continued looking at the intended target. He was making preparations for the second form of combat shinobi should be accustomed to, and one that Sakura should learn to handle since she had the best chakra control out of her three cohorts. The other two would need to rely on her skill to counter it since something prevented them from being able to completely negate the type of attack that was about to be unleashed. Of course, the silver head didn't expect the pink head to be able to counter this particular move since she didn't have enough training to beat it yet, but it was going to be a work in progress if Team Seven was able to pass this test. Even if they couldn't, the adult had faith that she would be able to put the pieces together if she could focus on it and not on a probable unrequited love.

For now though, he decided to use her near obsession with Sasuke to his advantage. Being stuck in awe of one person was detrimental to the success of a mission and he needed her to realize that here and now. "The second shinobi art of combat, Genjutsu."

Once the last leaf landed on a branch, Kakashi disappeared and left the unknowing Sakura alone once again. Her inner conflict kept her completely oblivious to all the prep that her opponent did for her and now she was heading for an obvious trap. _"Seriously, where is he? He's really good at hiding at least."_

The girl jumped off the tree limb and landed on the dirt in order to better search for her teammate that seemed to be avoiding any conflict. She was pretty confused by this surprising lack of fight coming from the elite student she knew Sasuke was. The female figured that her crush would have tried to capitalize on Naruto's humiliation in order to get a sneak attack out on their opponent. Was he not aware of where the Jonin was? Did he get farther away than she originally thought he would? Just what was going on in his head?

"Sakura, come over her for a second," a familiar voice called out, causing Sakura to turn around immediately.

"There you are!" the girl happily yelled when she saw the figure. It was the raven black haired child that she knew and loved.

The boy let out a smirk as he took out two small silver objects from his pocket. They were the bells that they were supposed to steal from their teacher. "I managed to get both of them while Kakashi was fighting Naruto. Here, have one."

Sasuke tossed one of the orbs towards the girl who quickly opened up her palm. With a jingle, the round item landed on top of her hand and caused her to enter her mind again. _"This can't be right…I was watching the entire time and he had both bells to his side the entire fight."_

"By the way, is it just me, or is this forest extremely hot?" the boy questioned as a red leaf fell from the branches and landed on Sakura's forehead. A look of suspicion was now on her face while she continued observing the Uchiha. The boy began reaching for his shirt and pulled it halfway over his head before a kunai knife hit the dead center of the chest. "Why…did you do that?"

The genius smirked before holding up the red leaf in her hand. Her face was currently crimson because of the fact she almost saw him shirtless even though she knew something was wrong. "It's spring; the leaves don't change color yet. Also, Sasuke isn't shameless enough to strip in front of a lady."

The fake quickly dissipated and became engulfed in a spiral of leaves. Once the storm ended, standing in the fake's place was Kakashi with a happy looking expression on his face. "I didn't think you would be able to break my illusion. Good job."

Choosing to not accept those words of praise, Sakura charged forward and attempted to punch Kakashi right in the eye. "Don't you dare mock Sasuke like that!"

The fist that was aimed at the man ended up connecting with the air before making contact with the tree that was directly behind the man. The enraged girl couldn't retract her punch and ended up getting her knuckles stuck into the bark. The hole from the impact greatly surprised the Jonin, who believed that the female of Team Seven wasn't physically strong at all. It was safe to say making a hole into the tree wasn't part of his calculations. Still though, things didn't stray too far from them as long as she didn't see through his facade. Keeping her occupied by using her rage against her would ensure victory for the man. All he needed was to last enough a couple more minutes so that his genjutsu would reach its second phase.

Sakura continued to not waste any movements by freeing her hand from the trunk and quickly jumped into the sky to launch shuriken and kunai knives at her opponent. The silver head quickly dodged every flying weapon, only to meet with a kick to his back from the girl. Bouncing off the ground because of the impact, Kakashi couldn't intercept a second punch aimed at his face and was sent back first into the tree that now had a hole in it. He still had no chance to breath because of another rain of tools heading straight for his body that he had to roll out of the way to avoid. Not even given a chance to finish his action, the girl stomped on his back and grabbed hold of his arms. Her eyes showed that she was really pissed off right now.

"I'm going to break your arms so you can't stop me from grabbing that damn bell off your hip!" the girl shouted as her headband fell out of her hair.

She had no idea how she was doing it, but she was actually containing her sensei to the point that he would injure his limbs if he moved the wrong way. There was no way that he was going to escape at this rate. Sakura didn't think it was possible, but she was actually going to grab one of the silver round objects she was assigned to steal an hour ago. If she took both of them right here, then she could give one to Sasuke and they'd both pass. The girl felt bad for Naruto in that situation since he was screwed out of passing, but she would pick the coolest boy she knew over the most annoying any day. Her thoughts were once again interrupted when she heard the sound of what she thought was a bone cracking. She must have broken both of her teacher's arms with all the pressure she was putting into pulling them back.

Hearing heavy panting now, Sakura looked down in hurry when she saw who was currently in the submission hold that broke arms. The silver haired man with his headband over his left eye and wearing the standard Konoha flak jacket wasn't the one lying on the ground. It wasn't even an adult there but rather a boy that was the same age as her. He was wearing the forehead protector over his temple and was wearing matching blue sandals. His white shorts and blue shirt were covered in dirt as his face had sweat coming down. His black hair covered the eyes that looked as if they were soulless. It was her beloved, Sasuke Uchiha.

It was at that moment that the pink haired female suffered a blow to the back of her neck from Kakashi. She slowly lost conscious as she cursed her lack of focus that caused her to believe that she actually hurt her teammate. It seemed like fate that the two separated by talent would be forever apart since she still had faith the top graduate of the class would be able to win.

 _"You did better than I thought you would, but your feelings for Sasuke ultimately cost you a bell, Sakura. You would have probably gotten one if you were able to notice I was trailing you the entire time."_ Kakashi looked over to the clearing and saw someone standing in the open. A small chuckle came out of his mouth as he slowly approached.

A leaf fell on Sakura's blank forehead as she looked up to the sky once again. She was able to hear the footsteps of the man heading north. The chuckle probably meant that he figured out that they were being observed the whole time and saw her embarrassing performance of falling for two different genjutsu. She closed her eyes once feeling the green thing that rested just above her left eyebrow. "Maybe I should have paid more attention to that lesson…I wonder if he cared enough to try it."

* * *

"I'm not like the other two. I **will** grab one of those bells."

The adult reached the center of the forest, the only place where a large of amount of sunlight could pass through and get in his eye. Standing before him was the last of a clan that was exterminated over five years ago, Sasuke Uchiha. The boy that had great pride in his heritage was the last person that wanted to pick a fight today and he would be the last person to lose on this day as well. Wind blew in his hair as his black eyes observed the opponent with anger. He kept him waiting way too long for this battle by entertaining the other two for some reason.

"Wait until you actually take one of them before you brag, Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura actually got close you know." Kakashi looked over to his third student and saw the determination in his pupils.

"Close isn't good enough for me. I might as well be tied to the stump if I can't get one before the timer goes off."

"That could be arranged," the older male replied with a joyful looking expression on his face. "Let's save that for later though. The time for your failed attempt is now."

Once he heard those words, the Uchiha reached into his shuriken pouch strapped to his right hip and unleashed a storm of the throwing stars at his foe. It would have been difficult for a fellow Genin to notice, but an elite ninja like Kakashi was able to see the shuriken that were currently hiding in the shadows of the ones in the air. It was an advance technique that the Uchiha were taught when they turned ten known as the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu. The fact that the boy was able to learn how to use this move without the help of anyone greatly impressed the Jonin, but it was still a bit incomplete compared to the potential it could reach. This was definitely something to work on if the trio were able to pass the test.

The silver head charged forward and made multiple erratic movements in order to avoid the shuriken bathing in light as well as the ones that dwelled in the darkness. Dust was beginning to gather around the man's feet as the black haired boy came in holding a kunai knife and began trying to stab him in the stomach. Each motion was barely avoid by the adult as he continued to carefully step around the shadow shuriken and throwing stars in plain sight. One mistake in his maneuvering and he would have a lot of blood flowing out of his legs and one less bell to look after. Kakashi knew that he had to turn this situation around quickly.

Taking advantage of the one very brief moment Sasuke took to bring back his arm before attempting the next thrust; Kakashi kicked the elbow of the Uchiha and forced him to kneel before jumping into the air to avoid the last of the hidden weapons slightly above ground. Before reaching the apex of his leap, the man swung his arm and knocked down Sasuke into the dirt and forced him to drop the tool that was previously in hand. The boy let out a growl as he stood up again, meeting the now descending Jonin with a kick that nailed him directly in the nose. The recipient of the attack was sent a couple feet back and was quickly met with an elbow to the ribs to slam him down. Before he had time to get back up, Sasuke stabbed his teacher's arm with a second kunai knife from his pouch and used it as a makeshift stake.

Once he attempted to grab one of the bells, the boy realized that Kakashi used the Substitution Jutsu and immediately jumped back before the fake body turned into a log. He started turning his head a full three hundred sixty degrees into to figure out where the real user was but couldn't see him no matter how hard he tried. He must have used that mind blowing speed he showcased to all three Genin earlier in order to escape into the forest. He was about to dash into the green domain before he heard a rumbling sound from below him that caused him to glaze down at the shifting dirt.

Having no time to react, Sasuke saw a gloved hand rise from the earth and grab the lower half of his leg. All he could do was let out a loud yell as he was getting dragged into the widening hole that led to who knew where. Before he knew it, everything but his head was submerged and Kakashi was standing above him once again.

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu. You were able to handle the first shinobi art of combat, taijutsu, so I was forced to step up my game a little," the man teased as he patted Sasuke on the head.

The boy attempted to spit on his foot, only for the older male to shift it to the right. "So you used the third shinobi art, ninjutsu. This jutsu is suppose to be used for torture…you could have cut my head of right here. Why are you holding back?"

Taking out an orange book with a red cross out sign on it, the man waved his free hand and shook his head before giving a quick glance at his opponent. "I told you I wasn't going to kill you when we started didn't I? Gotta say, pretty disappointed right now. So far, Sakura and Naruto got closer than you. Oh well, like you said, close isn't good enough."

With a sigh, Kakashi started walking away to presumably the starting point of this exercise. The Uchiha looked in absolute shock as he stayed where he was with no chance of moving. If his foe left this area without any opposition, he knew that there would be no chance that he could get a bell after he somehow got out here. His heart was pounding at an incredibly fast rate at the moment. He was faced with failure for the first time since he made the vow to restore his clan back to its original glory. There was no way he could just allow this obstacle that he had to overcome become unbeatable. He had one secret that he could use, and he had to bet it all on its success. He had a surge of power go through him as he started his climb from underground.

Now kneeling on the dirt once again, Sasuke took out five shuriken and tied string to one of the points on each one. He glazed over to the distance and noticed Kakashi nearing a tree that would work perfectly for his plan. With no delay, the boy threw all his weapons at the trunk and noticed the adult narrowly dodge all five of his tools. Once he felt the black objects connect with the wood, he bit into the string and began forming hand signs, to the dismay of Kakashi.

 _"Crap, I can't make hand signs or else I'd cut off my fingers!"_ the silver head thought as he looked over to the Genin. _"Those formations…don't tell me he's going to use a fire ninjutsu. There's no way a child his age has enough chakra to do one without killing themselves!"_

"Don't underestimate me! I am a member of the Uchiha Clan!" Sasuke shouted to the heavens as his eyes turned red for a split second.

Kakashi looked absolutely shocked as if he saw a ghost appear right in front of him. This kid was exceeding all of his expectations even more than Naruto, and he was doing what seemed like the impossible all the time. To be able to already access _that_ technique without any assistance from his kinsmen was nothing short of a miracle. To top it all up, the fact that he had the confidence to pull off this technique out of any of the fire moves showed that Sasuke was growing at an alarming rate. The Jonin had no doubts in his mind that the prodigy would surpass him in another two or three years.

 _"He has the skill, hell, all three of them do. They just don't realize the one thing that they're missing."_ The man shook his head and quickly returned his attention to his opponent that had finished his motions. This was what he was waiting for. The time to see what the boy had up his sleeve was now.

Fire began going down the wire as the eyes of the Uchiha looked like they were engulfed in flames as well. If one were to examine the orange closely, they could see that it resembled a mythological creature that was feared by many. This was one of the greatest ninjutsu in the shinobi world. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"

The heat began getting to the man, as sweat began falling down his face and his head started to feel a little dizzy. He no chance of escape or countering, but even still he knew that he was leaving this situation with both bells around his waist. Putting this much stress on one's body at such a young age couldn't possibly yield the intended results. Still though, he had no idea how he was going to actually reverse the situation right now.

It was at that moment that the flames began to split and instead surround Kakashi instead of engulfing his body like it should have. He couldn't put two and two together as Sasuke cut the wire and threw the half that wasn't in his mouth away. It was only when the black haired boy started charging in with kunai knife still in hand did he realize that he intentionally parted the fire so that he had an open path to the bells. Every single action he did was all done so that he could encircle Kakashi in a trap and make it so that the only way to escape was death.

Recklessness didn't pay off however, as the boy reached for one of the silver orbs, only to tap it with the tip of his index finger. The words he stated before this fight echoed in his mind while his vision started to fade away. Close wasn't good enough for him; it appeared that he failed the test like his two teammates. He was overwhelmed by this horrible chill coming down his body. This was the first time that he suffered failure and it was an absolutely crushing feeling. Is this what it felt like to be Naruto?

 _"Naruto? Wait…so that was the true purpose of this test. I should have seen it earlier."_ Right before he lost consciousness, Sasuke looked up to see a ninja wearing orange standing next to him. _"I guess that idiot realized it too."_

* * *

When the Uchiha was able to open his eyes, the flames from his strongest jutsu wasn't surrounding him anymore. The charred remains of the wire he used to channel his move weren't anywhere to be seen. There wasn't even any sunlight getting into his eyes like he thought there would have been. The ground under his back was a lot harder than normal, as if he was lying down on wood rather than the dirt. He thought for a brief moment that he was tied to the stump that he challenged Kakashi to tie him to if he failed to get a bell before recalling what happened before he lost consciousness in the first place. He must have been taken somewhere else in the forest by Naruto before his teacher could grab a hold on him.

Looking over to his right, Sasuke saw Sakura kneeling beside him and smiling when she saw that he had regained consciousness. Trying her best to withhold a hug, she placed her right hand on his shoulder. She wasn't wearing her headband on her forehead, but now around her neck like it was a necklace. Once he looked close enough, the black haired boy noticed that his teammate's hand was wrapped in white tape, like she punched a boulder or something. It was obvious based on her appearance that the female had one hell of a fight with Kakashi; although he couldn't tell it was more psychological warfare than it was physical.

Just a few feet away from the two was the third member of Team Seven. The left sleeve of his tracksuit looked like it was burned away. Sasuke figured that the incident that caused it was when the blonde jumped into the middle of his fire jutsu in order to rescue him. Soot covered his bare arm and part of his face. It was hard to notice, but he was able to see that his teammate had a white bandage wrapped under his headband; treating it like that he clashed with a tree head on and lost. He was still impressed by the fact that the two of them were still able to move nevertheless and let out a smirk as he slowly got to his feet.

"What, no thanks for saving ya? I risked my ass to get you out that fire ya know," Naruto stated while scratching the back of his head.

Sakura quickly stood up and walked over to the blonde in order to punch him in the back. "Naruto, don't bother Sasuke like that! He just woke up and doesn't need to inflate your ego."

That's not what the boy cared about however. Looking over at the duo currently arguing right now, the Uchiha began wondering just what did the both of them went through that they had to wrap themselves up. Did they also fight hard enough that they pushed their teacher to use an above average attack to get the advantage over them? Was he really underestimating their abilities like Kakashi alluded to? He was able to see Naruto get him out of that sticky situation so they weren't completely useless like he originally thought they were.

"Say, Naruto," the Uchiha started, garnering the attention of his two teammates. "Why'd you rescue me? You could have gotten a bell while Kakashi was distracted."

The blonde let out a laugh that he stopped once he saw the evil looking glare Sakura was giving him. He let out a deep breath before answering, "Rin-sensei told me yesterday, 'No matter the mission, never forget that you and your comrades need to help each other.' I did some thinking and realized what she meant. If I left ya behind and just went for the bell, I'd be a terrible comrade. You two are my comrades now, and I'll be damned if I abandon either of ya."

"So you picked your comrade over the mission," Sasuke deducted while crossing his arms. After a brief moment of silence, he nodded in satisfaction. "You're right. We are comrades now. I was stupid to think that I could have handled this exercise on my own."

Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Sakura turned her attention to the both of them. "The whole point of the test was to see how well we could work together. One of us was suppose to show sacrifice for the greater good of the team and not get a bell since there were only two of them. Instead, all we did was focus on our own desires and ended up doing terrible. What's worse is that we can't even capitalize on this new opportunity because Naruto is the only one that is still capable of fighting."

The Uchiha held his face in pain once Sakura told him those words. He refused to accept defeat so easily, despite the fact that his entire body was aching right now. "No, that's not true. I have enough in me for one fireball. He'll probably avoid my attack, so use that brief moment that he will need to handle me to grab a bell. I can't walk that much right now anyway."

"If we do that, you'll fail and have to go back to the Academy! There has to be a way for all three of us to pass," Sakura insisted. Over the course of these past hours she had realized that her love for Sasuke blinded her to what was most important. She should have treated both boys on her team with equal respect instead of giving Naruto the cold shoulder. She was a different girl from back then though. The only result she would accept now is all three of them becoming Kakashi's students. There was no chance in hell of her leaving behind the idiot so she could be alone with her beloved anymore.

"I don't think there is, Sakura," Naruto replied with a sad tone. Before he could be comforted, he looked over the both of them with a grin. "Our only shot is if we have a decoy distract him so the other two can grab those bells…but it's sure not going to be you doing it, Sasuke. I hate to admit it, but you're a genius and I'm not. You deserve the training way more than I do. Sakura, you and failure shouldn't ever be in the same sentence. I mean, you're smart, hot, and have a lot of talent. If Kakashi-sensei trained you, you'd surely be able to become an awesome ninja."

Sakura quickly showed her disapproval by shaking her head violently. "That doesn't mean a thing, Naruto! Sure you failed a lot before making it this far, but you made it here. You can't afford to fail again. You're going to be a future Hokage right? If someone fails at becoming a Genin four or more times, they can't ever become one. It's the end of the road if you do this!"

The raven haired boy finally decided to get involved again and started slowly walking towards the blonde. "Are you looking down on me? You think I have to rely on that guy's training in order to gain the strength I need?! Don't be a fool! I'll make it this far again and show you how strong I can get on my own."

"This isn't about me becoming Hokage or underestimating you. If it's for my comrades, I'd do anything in a heartbeat. And cut me some slack, I said I'd fail here. I never said I'd give up on my dream. I will become Hokage, even if it kills me. I won't run away and I won't go back on my word, that's my ninja way!"

"Naruto…"

All the girl could do now was say the name of the boy that was making the ultimate sacrifice for the both of them. She looked over to the Uchiha who had a similar look on his face before taking a few steps back. It was true that they ran out of options at this point, but she didn't want to ruin the blonde's dream because of her selfishness. She had finally accepted the fact that he was her teammate now and wanted to do her best with both of her assigned teammates by her side. She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything to stop Naruto now. She knew better than almost anyone that he wouldn't change his mind once he made it up.

The Uchiha looked at his rival and pounded his fist against a tree. "If I wasn't so weak…I wouldn't have held you two back so much. You had to watch over me while I regained consciousness."

"Yo."

The trio looked over to the direction of the clearing and saw Kakashi Hatake walking in the distance. He was currently holding the same orange book he took out right before he thought he defeated Sasuke. It appeared to be from a series called 'Make-Out' and was the first volume in the series, 'Make-Out Paradise'.

"What are you doing here? The timer go off?"

"It didn't, but I'm here to tell you that the test is over," Kakashi stated in a bored tone. All three of them looked disappointed since they figured that the test being over meant that none of them passed. They finally decided to work together and it was too late. The man closing his book snapped them back out of their thoughts and looked at him again. "Good job everyone, you passed."

* * *

The gentle look on Kakashi's face was a great surprise for the three Genin. It seemed like just a little while ago that they were trying to kill him and now he was giving them joyful news like that. Somewhere deep down they felt like they were about to fall into a trap but at the same time they thought that their sensei was being genuine about this statement. He didn't seem like the kind of person that tried to deceive people but they couldn't be sure that he wasn't. All they could do now was continue listening to his words and hopefully find out an explanation.

"I heard your conversation. I'm going to stop you here since if you tried any of your strategies now, Sasuke would end up hospitalized and Naruto would get a concussion."

Sakura's face was no longer one of depression but rather one of confusion. She tilted her head to the side as she tried to process what Kakashi was saying right now. "I still don't get how we pass though. None of us got a bell in the end."

The silver haired man shook his head before crossing his arms across his chest. "Everything has a hidden meaning. The point of this exercise was for you to realize that you weren't put into teams together just because we felt like it. You're comrades now. That means you're each other's support."

"Wouldn't that mean that we should fail as a team?" the girl questioned, still very puzzled by this turn of events.

"Come with me, I have to show you all something."

* * *

A gentle breeze blew through Training Ground Three as the four ninja arrived to the boulder than Sakura first observed when they arrived here hours ago. Sasuke was leaning himself on top of Naruto's shoulder as the blonde watched to make sure his rival didn't collapse from exhaustion again. Kakashi himself placed his palm on the grey rock and closed his revealed eye in some kind of prayer. Sakura looked at all three of them, noticing that she was the only one not doing anything. Her hand was still in pain and her headband was still around her neck, so maybe she should have removed her battle scars from the presence of the stone and show her respect as well.

Before she could act, Kakashi used his other arm to stop Sakura's motion and slowly lowered it once again. He turned around to his students and let out a deep breath before opening his eyes. "This is a memorial for those that died while on duty. My best friend's name is engraved on this stone, and I come here to remind myself of the most important truth in this world."

"Most important truth in this world?" Naruto asked in response.

With a happy look on his face, Kakashi walked over to the blonde and began rustling his hair. "You're a lot like Obito. He was always the one that made a sacrifice for his comrades on my team…including the ultimate one that would cost him his life. I only tell what I'm about to say to you three to people that I think have the same will as him. You could say that this is his legacy."

"His...legacy?" Naruto muttered in a voice so low that only Sasuke could have heard him since he was so close.

Kakashi looked up to the sky for a brief moment before returning his attention to the three Genin before him. "Ninja that don't follow the shinobi law are lower than scum. However, those that would just abandon their comrades are even lower than that."

All three of them stood there in amazement. The guy that looked like he just got out of bed and fell into a chalkboard eraser trap was no longer standing before them. The man they saw now was an elite shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village that was extremely cool and was all out awe inspiring. He was Kakashi Hatake, Jonin instructor of and the trio of Genin's newest comrade.

"Alright, Team Seven, that's all for today. We begin our regular mission duty tomorrow," the man stated while putting up a thumbs-up.

This was the day that they realized that they weren't just associates anymore. From now on, they would be comrades that would look after each other and help when the others needed them. All three of them now lived by the words that were bestowed to them today. They all had inherited Obito Uchiha's beliefs and would from that day on fight for it. This was the day that Naruto Uzumaki finally realized that the road to being acknowledged began with having comrades that would stand by him.

"Kakashi-sensei…that Obito guy…I'm going to grow up to become shinobi just like them. I won't ever abandon my friends!"

* * *

 **A/N: And that chapter is finally finished. Obviously, this bell test was much more intense than the one in canon with instances such as Sakura actually stepping up her game and that brief moment of Sasuke's Sharigan awakening. They aren't stronger in general per say, but more that their strength when in a pinch has been increased. You might also be wondering why Naruto didn't get his own 'new' step up moment. After all, the only things that really happened to him were that he got beat up by a tree and the clone attack from canon with a slight difference. Well, consider it cut content because while I had something planned; I couldn't fit it into the fight. Though, since Sakura showed some strength by punching a hole into the tree and Sasuke had his Sharigan for a brief moment, you could probably guess what I was going to have Naruto do and understand why I didn't use it in the end.**

 **As for what's next, I'm going ahead with the "Land of Waves" arc. The reason for the quotes around Land of Waves? Let's just say it becomes something more than just the Land of Waves as it continues to take part and leave it at that. Who knows, we might even see someone a lot earlier than in canon. Maybe not though, we'll see.**

 **Anyway, drop a follow, fav, and review if you wouldn't mind. I'd continue writing this story anyway, but seeing these things really motivates me to get these done quicker. Till next time!**


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